18 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



carried oiit so silently that the bees will not 

 fly out? or are they to be confined the while? 

 Lastly are we to <;b back so far as to entertain 

 the idea that ?m/ A;' colonies gather more honey 

 in proportion than strong ones? Friend H. 

 we are afraid yonr judgnient is a little — no, no, 

 we won't argue, but we will all observe care- 

 fully in our'own apiaries the coming season. 

 Saw-dust on the shelves and, floor is a glorious 

 idea, and many can use it during the coming 

 spring. Thanks . 



Obitiitiry.— K. C. Otis, who is well known to the. 

 hee-keeping fraternity, died Auji-. 31st, 1874, at Mount 

 Pleasant, Iowa, in the (Ust year of his ase. 



M. M. BALi>Hii)(ii:, St .Charles, Ills. Jan. 14th, 1875. 



T'ex'jus : ySc Per* A.iimiiii. 



[Including Postage] 

 For Club Rates see Last Page. 



"l^^EIDJIsr^A., FEB. 1, ±&'75. 



When wc "call again," we will tell yon of the many 

 things want of space only, forbids our telling now. 



A. B. J., on good time. World, on the 12th, and li. K. 

 JL, not until the 18th. 



(JUIN15Y offers a six frame hive complete for S1.75. 

 Send for his new circular. 



W. W. Bird, Freedom Mills, O., otTers a beautiful 

 material for smoking bees for $10.00 a cord. 



The great Ilonev men of York State meet at the 

 Buttcrfield House at Utica on the 3rd and 4th of Feb. 

 1875. M. Quinl)y, President, and J. II. Nellis, Sec. 



A. B. J-. and B. K. M., have lioth advanced thoir 

 wholesale rates so much that we are obliged to raise 

 our cUibliing rates to S-2.50 on the former and l'2.00 on 

 latter, and 15.00 once more for all, after this date. 



, \Vk certainly shall have to beg jiardon of our Knglish 

 Cousins. There /s a I>riti>;h I'.ce .Journal, and it has a 

 .Novice, Metal Corners, Simiilici!}- Hives, (,)uills, and 

 even a Lam)) Nursery. More an(ni. Thanks are due 

 friend Murphy, of Fulton, Ills., for back No's. 



, Friend Elwood omitted to carry out his llgures In 

 his report la* t uiontli and unfortunately the task de- 

 volved on Novice just at a tinu' wlien he had been 

 .working all dav, and nearly all night too in his zeal to 

 g:ive you all your jiapcrs; promptly by the first of the 

 month as usual, lie i>nh' made hvQ blundei-s, and 

 both on the sale side ; the re|iort should foot $;5310.1i, 

 instead ofj;i872.1 0. _ . , 



HONEY' BEABtI]\G PLANTS. 



A TEW W ORDS ON THE Sins,JE<CT ISY PROF'. KIRTLAN!). 



f|I|HE plant inclosed. Is the (•hick-weed {Sl.cllarid 

 media) (if Botanists', a native of Kiiroi)e, intro- 

 , _ -J duccd ami iiow CQriimon everywhere, es])eclally 

 an rich garden soils, where it bei'oiues a nuisance. It 

 js either an annual, or a biennial, very liardy, may 

 often be found in flower even in llic winter months; 

 whercNcr the snow melts away the little star like 

 flowers appear. Tliey. with the Knglisli snow droiis 

 [(laUintldOij and l]if'J>ttjihiir riiixi'riinii art', tlie first 

 flowers in my garden, in the month of March, to at- 

 tract my l)ee.s away, t'roni their supples of huliaii meal, 

 li'ye flour or groiuid Linseed cake. These ])lantsare 

 all Foreigners and when introduced Into our garden 

 liut forth their blossoms earlier than any of our indig- 



enous plants. Vid. Dr. Darlington''s American Weedtt 

 and useful plants^, page 59. 



The investi.LTatiiin of tlie merits and intrinsic valui! 

 of Honey-bearing plants, is an important matter; and 

 I am miich gratified to learn that you are directing 

 your attention to it. From the year 1810, down to the 

 present moment, it has to some extent, occupie<l my 

 stiulies, and been the subject of exi)eriment, and ob- 

 servation. If at any time my suggestions will be of 

 service to you, they will IJe reiulered gratuitously 

 with pleasure, provided the infirmities of advancetl 

 age and ill health do not interfere. 



At i>resent, it is somewhat problematical whether 

 any species of the vegetable kingdom can be profitably 

 cultivated, on an extensive scale solely for producing 

 honey. 



Many years since, my friend Biemiller, of the Zoar 

 Community, in Tuscarawas County, showed me a field 

 of several acres, thickly covered with the liape plants, 

 then in full bloom, and" swarming with liees, from his 

 extensive ami well arranged Apiary. Besides the bee 

 feed they sup|)lied, their seeds \v ere manufactured 

 into oil, which at that day, together with corn oil 

 (Fusel oil of the distilleries) furnished the supply for 

 lights, extensively in the West. He thought that for 

 this double ])urp6se the cultivation of the Rape was 

 l)rofitable. The Ohio Canal was then in progi-ess of 

 constructiom and Whale oil was not brought into the 

 State. Lard oil was not thought of; and Petroleum 

 had not entered the imagination. Besides Fusel oil, 

 at that the Burnee, has since, by the appliances 

 of the Distiller's art been converted into the Burnor, 

 and is now the main element of poison in modern 

 whiskey, that burns out the mucous coat of the stom- 

 ach and irritates the brain of the inebriate into Delir- 

 ium Tremens. 



At this day the cheap supply of Petroleum renders 

 Rape of no value as the furnisher of a burning oil, 

 hence its cultivation for its supply of bee stores would 

 not i)erha))s i)ay. 



In my belief the true Chinese Mustard hobls out the 

 best ]iros)iects for tliis purpose of auy plant at present 

 known. Jt is the Sinapis Chinensis of Don's Garden- 

 ers Dictionary, Vol. 1, page '24it, 



Twenty years since, 1 found it cultivated in a gen- 

 tleman's" garden in Northern Imliana for greens ami 

 salad, and five years since I found it in a Jew's gar- 

 den, at Volusia, on St. John's river, Florida, where it 

 was used for the same purposes. It produces more 

 than double the quantity of llowers and seed than 

 either the black or white mustard, tlie species usually 

 cultivated in tliis State. The last named is too fre- 

 quently sent out from our seed stores as the Chinese. 

 If l)atches of ground be sown at suitable intervals of 

 time from early sjiring, till near the close of summer 

 our bees will be constantly occupied in collecting 

 honey during those ])eriods wlien tliey are usually 

 idle for the want of such supples, as will be thus fur- 

 nished. The seed of tliis kind is jieculiarly adaiHed 

 for grinding into the i)0|iular cdudiuient ; always 

 commands a reaily market; and good price, and will 

 insure sufiicient in<'<ime to rei^ay for its cultivation. 



From causes alluded to, 1 am a retired member 

 amoiur Bee-('ulti\ators. Two years since I reduced 

 my Apiary froui Km to 1(1 stocks and this small number 

 I havi' harilly strength to manage. 



I am furllur gratified to learn that you are success^ 

 fully and esseiuially simplifying tlie structure of the 

 hive. The Honey bee woul<t ri'(iuire enlarged capac- 

 ities to comprehend the labyrinths and mysteries, 

 involved in many of the modern patent liivcs." 

 With great respect, Yburs, J. P. Kirti,ani>. 



East Ilockjiort, Cuyahoga Co., O. Jan. 19th 1875 

 The specimen oi" Ciiickweed referred to was 

 ssnt us by a Southern ft lend whose name we 

 have cal'elessly lost. We failed to recognize it 

 on account of extra size of both leaf and blos- 

 soms. If we remember, bees were busy on it 

 in Dec. We think the oil from Rape seed is 

 (]uite in demand just now, for some purpose; 

 will some one inform us in regard to it? Our 

 bees are very attentive itideed to the common 

 mustard, and we liope to give the Chinese a 

 trial this season. We feel sure our readers all 

 join us in tendering thanks to our vcneral)le 

 teacher for his kind otfer of assistance. Plants 

 to be named had better be mailed to us. Send 

 a pressed specimen of the stalk with leaves at- 

 tached, and if possible the flower also. Those 

 having Botanies, will find tlnin great aids in 

 investigations. 



